This excellent, paper, full-color U.S. political wall map is 40" x 28" and includes Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, southern Canada and part of northern Mexico. Also includes major bodies of water, state names, capitals, major cities and towns, latitude and longitude, time zones, national parks and monuments. Large and legible lettering. Great for schools, but why not have one at home or in the office, too?

We just learned that. You’d think we’d have known. Now we do. They’re sort of like round dreidels, with a hollowed-out middle around the stem, which causes them to turn themselves upside down while they’re spinning. Great lesson in center-of-mass instruction for physics teachers. Includes an explanatory booklet with activities and discussion topics. You’ll get (3) wooden tops at 7/8”, 1-1/4” and 1-1/2” dia.

Classroom and Science Fair alert: Now you can order an 8-pack of metals and metal alloys for demonstration purposes. Each pack of 1" dia x 1/32" thick discs includes aluminum, bronze, brass, copper, n/silver (w/nickel), m/steel (mild: low carbon), stainless steel, and zinc. Composition of each is stamped on one side of the discs.

They might as well learn something while they're trying to outlast you on eating those lima beans. Set the table with educational placemats and they'll be at least a touch smarter after dinner, even if their vegetable intake is low. These laminated, 12" x 17-3/8" mats have full-color fronts, black-and-white backs. Choose the United States Map, Stars & Constellations, the Periodic Table of Elements or The Metric System.

Nice little teaching magnet set for the primary grade classroom has (6) magnets in star, two-bar, horseshoe and ring shapes, all plastic coated in silver and red to mark the poles. Range in size from 1” to 3”, and include a few paper clips and small nails for demo purposes.

Begin their microscopic education here, with this 40-640X student microscope from Levenhuk®. Featuring an adjustable eyepiece, variable white LED illuminator, and adjustable iris. Comes with a cover; (5) blank and (5) prepared slides; pipette; brine shrimp, yeast, sea salt and glue samples; forceps; a microtome; 58-page user guide; and a 23-page manual. Includes (2) “AA” batteries and a lifetime warranty through the manufacturer.

Sounds like a Portuguese percussion album, but it’s just an alnico bar magnet in a mount that lets it rotate freely to demonstrate the three-dimensional magnetic field. Ideal for experiments about forces between magnetic poles, fields around wire and coils, and the properties of fields produced by electric currents. Also handy as part of your ghost-hunting gear.

Same here. Try the Ferrofluid Magnetic Display, a little sealed bottle with virtually fluid nano-particles of ferrous metal suspended in liquid. You’ll get (4) powerful 1/2” dia x 3/16” neodymium disc magnets, (2) of them attached to chess-pawnish holders. Move the magnets in assorted combinations around the bottle for fascinating effects. Sort of the marriage of science with desk toys, but students can’t spill these particles all over the place.

…when you crank up this 13-1/4" tall, hand-cranked Wimshurst generator. They were the toast of the 19th Century, and remained the hottest thing around, electrostatically speaking, until Bobby Van de Graaf came along. This one works like a top, zapping sparks to a fare-thee-well with very little cranking. It's mighty pretty too, in acrylic, white and silver, and will dress up a dull physics or electronics lab.

The next best thing to lightning bolts! 200,000 volts of electrostatic energy created by our Van de Graaff generator. Measures 6-1/2” diameter by 15” tall, includes a spare belt and a set of instructions detailing lots of fun experiments. For grade 6 and up. This is not a toy and should be used under adult supervision. A great tool for teaching about electricity. For your convenience, we now have Lightning Belts: replacement belts to drive that overworked generator.